Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was released on July 28 in theatres and is being loved by the audience. The film marked Karan Johar's completion of 25 years as a filmmaker and his comeback after 7 years. In a recent interview, Karan spoke about his childhood days and how the character of Tota Roy Choudhury in the film was borrowed from the filmmaker's childhood! 

Tota's character, essayed by Chandon Chatterjee, played the role of Rani's (Alia Bhatt) father in the film. The character is a professional Kathak dancer, who faces humiliation after performing Kathak on stage, as the dance form is associated with femininity. Ranveer Singh (Rocky) later joins him and learns Kathak and together they perform on Dola Re Dola, one of the most praised parts of the film. 
 

In his interview, Karan shared, "Karan said, “It's also about things I have believed personally. As a child, I was very effeminate and I used to dance in my own room to Hindi songs.” Karan said his father Yash Johar thought it was ‘great’ as he would dance to Dafli Wale Dafli Baja as he always performed Jaya Prada's part. “My father used to watch and clap. Every time his friends came, he would say Karan ‘Woh dance dikhao sabko.’ “No one told me there was anything wrong at that time. So I grew up thinking this is fine. Much later when you go to college you realise when you carry that through and do those moves, and people look at you and laugh.”

Karan further elaborated, 
“You're called all kinds of things. There are terms used and it's still in my heart because I grew up with that feeling that I was laughed at for my body language or way of being. Somewhere Tota's character is borrowed from my childhood. When he says ‘Hunar ka koi gender nahi hota (talent has no gender)’, I believe that."

Source: Film Companion